Since 2012 the South African Hip Hop Awards have been a compass in directing the sounds and conversations taking place within the country’s ever-bustling Hip Hop scene. Like any award ceremony, nominations and wins have been met with counterpoints from audiences and rap artists themselves, often from a general feeling that an artist, song or album has been snubbed. For example, last year saw wunderkind and late 2020-’21 breakout star Blxckie snubbed for Song of the Year and Album of the year, despite releasing a monumental debut album, ‘B4NOW’, which included the Nasty C-assisted hit song, “YE×4″. It brought criticism to the organising body and proved that, no matter how hard they try, awards can’t please everyone.

 

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The awards will return this year in late December, with nominees and honorary awardees announced a few days ago. On the latter note, the Ubuntu Activism award will be awarded to Khuli Chana. The award is given to those with efforts to promote, direct, or intervene in social, economic, or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society. The rapper set up the Khuli Chana Foundation which focuses on improving the educational system in the country. The other honorary award belongs Loxion Kulca who will be honoured for their lifetime achievements in South African Hip Hop.

In the competitive categories, Blxckie broke history by receiving six nods out of the ten spots in the Song of the Year category, including two headline songs—the A-Reece-assisted “Sneaky” and “Kwenzekile” with Madumane and Chang Cello. He also dominated the nominations with a total of thirteen entries including the coveted MVP award. The award which was previously held by the late Ricky Rick goes to artists with a significant impact in the past year. This category holds great pressure, as he’s competing against industry veterans including AKA, Big Zulu, Cassper Nyovest, and K.O.

2022 has seen the rapper reach a higher zenith, following the release of his sophomore album ‘4LUV’. The soulful R&B tape established him as a multi-hyphenate artist, and lead single “Umoya” debuted at #1 on iTunes in South Africa. In less than a year since his debut, Blxckie has gone from a breakout star to an ubiquitous voice in South African Hip Hop.

Album of the year, a category Blxckie doesn’t have a nomination in, boasts a strong line-up that includes Maglera Doe Boy’s ‘Diaspora’, Thato Saul’s ‘Life is Gangsta’, Tyson Sybatelli’s ‘Home’, Lucasrap’s ‘031 to the World 2.0’, and Zooci Coke Dope’s ‘Anxiety+’. All five artists are also the nominees in the Best Male category. Trusted SLK, Gigi Lamayne, XXC Legacy, Indigo Stella, and NATIVE Fresh meat Money Badoo are nominees in the Best Female category. Money Badoo is also nominated for Freshman of the year alongside Lucasraps, Thato Saul, Tyson Sybatelli and ZuluMecca.

Seeing as this is a hip-hop award event, a much-coveted category is Lyricist of the Year. This year’s nominees include ZuluMecca, PDotO, Priddy Ugly, Tyson Sybatelli and A-Reece. Posthumously, departed SA rap veteran Riky Rick is nominated for Song of the Year and Best Collabo for his contributions to Venom & Shishiliza’s Amapiano-tinged smash hit, “Sondela”. Cotton Fest, the brand Riky Rick co-found, is up for Best Local Brand alongside SkhandaWorld, Root of Fame, Butanwear and S.W.A.N.K.

With the theme “Hip-Hop Kult-ure”, this years edition of the South African Hip Hop Awards will be held on December 6th. You can go through the full nomination list here.

Featured image credits/Bubblegumclub

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